Good Hair

http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/movies/09hair.html?_r=0

This New York Times review of Good Hair pretty accurately describes my reaction to the film. I thought Chris Rock brought up many interesting facts and showed a good look into the industry of hair. However I was slightly let down by the film, because Rock brought light to many problematic practices but offered no solutions. The entire feel of the film seemed too light and humorous for the severity of the problem it was addressing. Some of the problematic things Chris Rock brought up but offered no solution to was the practice of applying “creamy crack” or relaxing to the scalps of young black girls and adults and the expensive, high maintenance hair product weaves. Another issue Rock raised was the fact that African Americans make up 20% of the population but make up 80% of the hair market consumers. Yet they do not own many of the hair companies. Mostly Asians and Caucasians own these companies and manufactures. So black people spend the most money on hair products but Asians and white people profit from hair products. I would have enjoyed the film more if it would have offered some solutions to the audience instead of just leaving us with a big issue and no proper way to respond to it. As far as how this film has prompted me to make changes in my life, I think as a white person my only response can be trying to change the false idea that white is right and acknowledge the extent that white privilege affects my life. Having white-looking hair should not influence whether or not someone gets an interview or a job.  

Good Hair by Courtney Showell

When Chris Rock's daughter asks him why doesn't she have good hair, he goes on a journey to get close-up and personal with black hair. From weaves to relaxers, Rock learns plenty of information about black hair and the extents women go through to maintain it. This hour and a half of adventure will leave you wanting more information about your "Good Hair."

Good Review
http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/87911/good-hair.html

Bad Review
http://www.nycmovieguru.com/oct9th09.html#goodhair

With only 5 "rotten tomatoes" on rottentomatoe.com, this movie is a good view.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m-4qxz08So

Group Film- America the Beautiful

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10009914-america_the_beautiful/

The Rotten Tomatoes assessment of the documentary America the Beautiful is fairly accurate in terms of synopsis and rating. However, I do not agree with the statement listed on the top of the page saying, “This doc doesn't expose any new territory about our unattainable standards of beauty, but does manage to entertain with an effective and accessible tone by filmmaker/subject Darryl Roberts.” I thought that the documentary exposed a lot of things within the fashion industry that I was uneducated about, which could be considered new territory for me and the others in my film group. The 68% fresh rating is fair, in my opinion, because the documentary was very interesting and informative, but left a bitter aftertaste because of all of the negative, but true, information that was learned throughout the film.

                After watching America the Beautiful I realized that the fashion industry is not about making clothes to help people feel confident but only to turn a profit. As one man said in the film, “we could change, but if we do then we won’t make any money.”  The fashion industry was portrayed as being a self-obsessed monster which, after further investigating, does not seem to be too far off the mark. This film prompted me to look at people in a way that finds their positive qualities instead of their negative ones. An analogy given in the movie that struck me was from an African woman who compared people to trees. She talked about we think every tree is beautiful, so why should  we not be think that every human is beautiful? It’s an interesting concept that I have never bothered to think about before. 

Equilibrium (2002)

January 9, 2013

          Equilibrium is an action movie that is in a futuristic world after the Third World War. After the war, the world was governed by a totalitarian ruler 'The Father.' All the citizens were forced to take a pill called 'Prozium' everyday that numbed their emotions to create a world of utopia. John Preston, the head of a group or a high ranking general responsible of destroying the resistance. One day, he doesn't take the pill realizing the beauty of emotion.

          The movie portrays human being as nothing, but a mindless robot repeating their daily lives over and over again. Since nobody in the movie had emotions, everybody wore the same type of clothes and walked around with an apathetic face, almost as if everybody was a machine in a car factory. This showed the nature of evil empire where one man had control over everything. Which also portrayed how selfish a human being can be. A human without emotion is improbable because as the speaker Lee Hardy said on Monday that “humans are pleasure driven.” Another aspect about humans that showed in the movie was that people accept the rules they are given by their authorities, which led the citizens to forget how much emotions affected their lives. In the other hand the resistance, who were the people who rebelled against the government not taking the daily pills kept hope and fought back.

          Another thing that shows from the movie is that a kingdom is not a place but it's an on going process how, the kingdom of the movie, Equilibrium there were still many changes happening and how there were full of surprises in it. You would have never expected that the head of a group or a high ranking general of destroying the resistance would ever be the one to go against what he lived most of his life for.

          It is crucial that we live in a world of liberty and it is also important that we realize how much of a blessing and privilege we have to live in such a place. There are still countries around the world that are suffering in a one governed society just like how the movie showed.

Discussion Questions

1. Are we brave enough to go against what our world believes and stand up for what we think is right?
   
   
2. Can we ever reach a world of utopia?